Selene barely registered her feet hitting the ground as she followed Killian out of the council chambers. The seriousness of their words oppressed her like a secondary skin.
The past will catch up with you… And when it does, not even he can protect you.
Her heart was racing in her ears. What were they saying?
Killian's grip on her wrist was firm but unbruising. He led her along the dark corridors of the Silvercrest fortress, his movements precise, deliberate.
The guards standing at post along the walls stiffened as they passed, their eyes darting from her to their king.
On the way out, finally, into the chilly night air, Selene pulled her hand free. "What in the world was that?" she demanded.
Killian turned to her, his expression unyielding. "A warning."
She folded her arms. "What about?"
"The prophecy. The council has always feared it." His jaw clenched. "And now that you've finally arrived, they think it's occurring."
Selene breathed quickly. "I have no idea what this prophecy is."
Killian's gaze burned hers. "Then it's time you learned."
He started walking again, more slowly now, more purposefully. Selene lingered a moment before falling into step beside him.
The castle grounds stretched out before them, moonlight spilling over the high stone walls. Wolves ran the perimeter in the distance, eyes glowing like embers in the darkness.
Killian led her to a secret corner of the fortress, a place that had not been altered by time. The air was richer here, heavy with the scent of ancient magic.
He stood in front of an iron-clad door. "Here it begins."
Selene swallowed. Whatever was on the other side of that door… she knew in her stomach it would change everything.
Selene hesitated in front of the iron-reinforced door. A chill ran down her spine, one she couldn't explain. This room felt wrong.
Like something deep beneath the surface was waiting to be unearthed.
Killian didn't say a word as he opened the door. The hinges groaned, the sound echoing from the dimly lit room beyond.
Selene stepped cautiously in, her breath catching at what she saw. Flickering torches illuminated stone walls, casting a ghostly glow on the ground.
Tattered tapestries adorned the walls, their designs faded with time. But most striking of all was the gigantic stone table in the center.
It was written in symbols—some she recognized as werewolf symbols, others completely foreign.
Killian moved away from the edge of the table, his arms sweeping over the carvings. "This is the earliest record of our kind," he said.
His voice was lower now, bordering on reverence. "The council doesn't want you to see this. But if you're going to understand what's happening, you have to."
Selene moved forward cautiously. "What am I reading?"
Killian drummed his fingers over a specific symbol—a crescent moon encircled with spiky lines. "This is the symbol of the damned Luna."
His golden eyes met hers. "Your symbol."
Her gut twisted. "That's not possible. I don't possess—"
But the words remained stuck on her tongue. Killian's fingers rose slowly and pushed back the cuff on her tunic.
Selene gasped.
A faint silver mark shimmered on her forearm, the same jagged crescent from the table.
Panic clawed at her throat. "I've never seen this before. How—"
"It was hidden," Killian murmured. "Most likely by magic."
His grip tightened slightly. "But now that you're here, it's revealing itself. And that means…"
Selene's pulse pounded. "That means what?"
Killian exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening. "Which means you were never intended to live."
The words slammed into her. Selene recoiled, her heart racing in her chest. Never intended to live?
She gritted her teeth, fighting the panic threatening to overwhelm her. "You're saying someone hid my mark… to keep me from knowing who I am?"
Killian nodded curtly. "And to keep the council from finding you."
Selene placed a hand on her stomach. It was too much. Too sudden.
She had been working weeks to put together who she was, only to discover someone had stolen that truth from her on purpose.
Her gaze zipped to Killian. "Who and why?"
His expression darkened. "There is only one person who has that kind of power."
Selene sucked in a breath as the answer hit her like lightning.
Lysandra.
Selene's fists formed into claws. The name scorched her like fire—Lysandra. The alleged Luna Queen.
The one who stayed at Killian's side when Selene languished in the darkness.
Her lungs constricted. "She knew? All along?"
Killian's jaw clenched. "Not just knew. Kept everyone else from knowing as well."
Selene's brain reeled. If Lysandra had concealed her, that meant she had the authority to do so.
But why? What was so threatening about Selene that she needed to be eliminated?
Killian turned aside, his hand scraping through his hair. "Lysandra is not what she appears to be. She arrived at Silvercrest in secrecy, professing to be my mate after you… vanished."
His voice grew lower. "The council accepted her without hesitation. They asked me to accept her."
Selene's breath caught. And you did.
His gaze darted to hers, as cold as a razor. "I never recognized her as my mate."
The air became thick with unspoken words, the room still once more.
Selene longed to believe him. But the image of Lysandra standing by his side—her perfect, queenly loveliness—was burned into her mind.
Killian took a deep breath. "I tried to reject her."
Something stayed his hand.
"The bond between us never completed itself, yet it never truly fell apart either." His golden eyes darkened. "Now I know why."
Selene's pulse vibrated. "Because of me."
He inclined his head. "You were always my mate. The bond I share with Lysandra… it's not real."
A heaviness filled Selene's chest. If what he was telling her was real, then everything—the council's silence, Lysandra's position, her own lost past—was part of something more. Something crafted with caution.
Selene struggled to inhale. "If the council helped Lysandra replace me, then that means…" Her words trailed off as the idea struck her.
Killian filled in for her. "Then that means they needed you out."
Her flesh ran cold. The ones ruling over their people, the ones who were in charge of protecting their laws and their heritage, had been the ones to eradicate her.
Her pulse pounded with both fear and rage. "But why am I here?"
Killian's eyes remained unreadable. "Because somebody else did."
The weight of his words pounded on her bosom. Had the council done away with her, but a person had kept her alive? Then she was caught between two forces she couldn't understand.
And she was running out of time to know which one desired her dead.
Selene's heart beat in her chest as she struggled to absorb the revelations. The council's treachery and the secrets of her hidden past weighed upon her like an unyielding mass.
Shadows danced upon the weathered stone walls, whispering in hushed tones of dangers yet to be met.
Killian stepped closer, his face a mixture of defiance and deep concern. "We don't have time," he breathed in a hushed, anxious tone. "The council will not wait for us to find peace—they will strike again, and soon."
His voice trembled with the force of reality, and his grip on her wrist tightened.
A shiver went through Selene as fleeting recollections—of blood, of fire, and a face burned into her brain—began to resurface. "Who else are they?" she whispered, voice hardly perceptible, hope and terror coursing through her.
The markings on the walls pulsed as if sensing growing tension.
Killian's gaze narrowed, his look dark and unrelenting. "There is one other name echoing in the halls of power," he breathed, voice on the cusp of being lost in the snapping hush. "A force you have yet to face."
Selene's blood ran cold. "What do you mean?" she said, her dread and resolve quivering in her voice. The ancient runes beat softly, echoing with secrets buried long ago and destiny bound up.
The air coalesced as if the very room was steadying itself against a storm. "You're not the first to have a secret history," Killian continued, his voice somber. "The truth shall come crashing down on us, and all will never be the same."
A distant thunder rumbled through the hall, making their backs prickle with fear. As the sound reverberated louder, the uniform rhythm of hidden forces churned outside the door.
Selene's pulse accelerated, and she had a feeling their moment of peace was about to end.
They could not react before the door creaked open with a deafening crash. Killian's grip on her wrist tightened, his eyes sweeping the darkness. "Stay with me," he commanded, his voice hard in spite of uncertainty.
From among the dark shadows, a presence moved away from the wall and stepped toward them. Its coming was cold and menacing, its eyes glinting with wickedness in the flickering light of the torches.
Selene's breath hitched as she tried to move back, but Killian didn't let her go. The figure edged nearer, the steps slow and steady, until it was a handful of paces from her.
In that moment, when she looked and his eyes meeting hers, all her thoughts were filled with one blinding question—was this darkness the harbinger of her last destiny?